Andrew Benesh’s Reviews > Still Life with Tornado > Status Update

A very strong, very poignant conclusion. I really liked the honestly and uncertainty during the confrontation; I feel it captures that far remarkably well. I like that the other Sarah's are never given full explanation, and that the Don Quixote metaphor was fully developed in the end. I wish we saw more of the museum image. It would be interesting to read a Bruce or Chet perspective chapter.

I simply cannot dislike a book that mentions the Mütter Museum.

The truth continues to trickle out. Mom is still growing on me, but I'm wary of brother. The other Sarah's are more and more worrisome.

The violence in this book is slowly seeping in, as is the narrators sense of agency. The gradual acknowledgement of traumas makes sense. I like Mom's chapters. Still not sure what to think about 10-year old Sarah.

This is a very unusual YA novel; I can't tell if the narrator is dissociating, hallucinating, it just being creative. They do a remarkable job of capturing the frenzied stagnation that happens when families foreclose on their adolescents. This is probably going to end badly.